Inkstone in the Shape of a Roof Tile with Seal Script Characters (1700s–1800s): Art, History and Details

Inkstone in the Shape of a Roof Tile with Seal Script Characters (1700s–1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Workshop of Jian Guzhai.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This inkstone is particularly noteworthy for its inscriptions in two styles. The base shows four characters in seal script (zhuanshu) expressing auspicious, or favorable wishes, while the characters on the side in standard script (kaishu) record the name of the workshop and that of the collector’s studio. Inkstones were used to grind solid ink cakes with the addition of water to produce liquid ink for brush painting and calligraphy.

Object facts

• Title: Inkstone in the Shape of a Roof Tile with Seal Script Characters
• Date: 1700s–1800s
• Creator attribution: Workshop of Jian Guzhai
• Culture: China, Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
• Type: Stone
• Technique: She stone
• Dimensions: Diameter: 14.9 cm (5 7/8 in.)
• Collection: China - Qing Dynasty
• Department: Chinese Art
• Accession number: 2023.50

A detail from the museum

The four large seal script characters on the base of this inkstone, 七葉永祥, may be read as "eternal good fortune for seven generations."

Collection credit

Norman O. Stone and Ella A. Stone Memorial Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• J.J. Lally & Co, and Richard John Lynn. Elegantly made: art for the Chinese literati [雅製 : 中國文人藝術 = Ya zhi: Zhongguo wen ren yi shu]. New York: J.J. Lally & Co., 2020.
• "Permanent Collection Installations.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 65, no. 3 (2024): 16–17.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.